Shock Docs (2020–…): Season 3, Episode 5 - The Curse of Robert the Doll - full transcript

His name is Robert the Doll,

and he's considered the
most haunted doll in the world.

For over 100 years,

a single doll has tormented thousands.

Something was there to hurt me.

Something dark.

It was the scariest moment
that I have ever had in my life.

This doll's a portal to
attract in a lot of spirits.

I just heard.

I curse people who don't believe.

Open up!



Dear Robert,

I thought I followed the rules.

Movies are not real
things that you see on TV

about other dolls,

they're not real.

Robert is real.

Don't worry,

I'll take care of you.

Bye, Robert.

I'm sorry, I can't stop shaking.

This is hard.

Oh, Robert, here we are again.

My name is Bonnie,

and I have been a victim



of Robert the Doll.

Robert, I'm here today to
apologize to you for what happened,

for the disrespect that was
shown to you in my presence.

And I hope to get
your forgiveness for that.

I feel I've paid my dues.

I feel...

I feel like we should be okay
with each other by now.

I'm sorry.

I am sorry.

Thank you.

Robert the Doll has haunted
Key West for more than 100 years.

He's believed to be possessed
by some kind of malevolent spirit.

With Robert the Doll,
people experience things.

One lady talked about her husband
losing his toe in a lawnmower accident.

We've had some people who have
blamed deaths on Robert the Doll,

but his real story started right
here in the house that I'm sitting in,

over a century ago.

The story of Robert the Doll begins in 1905

at Robert Eugene Otto's
fifth birthday party

with Gene's sister Mizpah
and his nanny and her daughter.

Happy birthday, Robert.

Thank you.

Yes. Happy birthday, Robert.

Open the big one next.

Oh, Caroline has good eyes.

Here you go, son.

Did I make it in time?

He's just about to open his big gift.

Perfect.

Caroline, what have I told you
about lounging around the house?

It's okay, Emeline.

Caroline's welcome to stay.

She's practically family.

That's very sweet of you, Thomas.

Oh!

Do you like him?

Yes.

Thank you, Mother.

Oh! You're most welcome,
my darling.

- Thank you, Father.
- You're welcome, son.

Oh, he's quite strapping.

Oh! Very, very strapping. He's big. Mm-hmm.

Robert.

Don't you want to open
the rest of your presents?

Robert.

Robert.

His parents had no idea

what they were getting themselves into,

like this interesting looking doll,

it was a gift.

We never know

what gift we're going to give our children

that's going to change
the course of their lives.

There are forces at work
that are beyond us as parents.

Time for lunch, children.

I'm not hungry either.

We can stay and play.

I'm glad you like your sailor suit.

You make a better sailor anyway.

Robert.

Didn't you hear Emeline?

Lunch is ready.

I heard.

But we're not hungry.

We?

Robert and I, we're not hungry.

Robert and...

Oh, sweetheart.

You're Robert?

No, not anymore.

He's Robert now.

Not me.

You named the doll after yourself?

No. It was a present.

I gave him my name.

He is Robert.

I'm Gene now.

I see he's dressed like you too, Robert.

I told you.

He's Robert.

I'm Gene.

Okay, Gene.

Emeline is waiting for you.

Don't worry.

They'll come around.

It's your name now.

I promise.

Folklorists and legends will tell you.

"Hey, if you give someone your name,

you give someone your clothes,

you're giving someone your identity,

particularly an effigy,

how is that not going to become possessed

or contain some
sort of spiritual essence?"

It's hard to say what the
parents would have thought

when their child named
the doll after himself.

But what we do know is that they hear

different voices coming from the room

and they'd go in to look and see,

"Oh, who does Gene have over?
Who is he playing with?"

And they'd look in and find it
was only Gene and Robert the Doll.

Isn't this tea delicious, Robert?

I don't think I've ever made it any better.

I could drink it all day.

There's just a little left.

Would you like some more?

No more.

Oh, Gene.

Who are you talking to?

I was talking to Robert.

Gene, don't lie to me.

I heard another voice in here.

I'm not lying.

Mizpah...

are you in here?

I'm not lying.

Robert and I were having a tea party.

Gene, I heard another voice.

Who were you talking to?

Mommy, I promise.

It was Robert.

But he doesn't want any more tea.

Gene...

it's time for bed.

Enough with that doll.

It's well past your bedtime.

Nanny Emeline will
be in to help you shortly.

Today, Robert lives
under protective case of glass

inside the Fort East Martello Museum.

Robert has four very simple rules to follow

when you meet him.

Number one, have to say
hello and introduce yourself.

Number two, you have to be courteous.

You have to be polite.

Be kind when you talk to Robert.

Three, when you leave,

you have to say goodbye to Robert.

You want to close that connection there.

Number four, probably the most important

is if you take his picture,
make sure you ask permission.

If you disrespect him,

you are asking for his
wrath to come to you...

and destroy you.

And he has every ability to do that.

I've seen him destroy people's livelihoods,

their careers, their
marriages, deaths in the family.

The curse is there.

There are thousands of people
who have been affected by this doll,

and they write letters begging
for this curse to be lifted

because they didn't follow the rules.

People talk about being struck

by lightning, fires, floods, illness.

It doesn't end.

You go down the list, anything bad that's
happened has been blamed on Robert.

My ordeal with Robert started

when I was involved in a project to take

a photograph of his aura.

But things did not end well.

The aura is your energy field.

Every plant, every person,

every living thing has an energy field.

And there's the SLS camera,

it's a structured light sensing camera.

It senses the light structure of the room.

And when there's an anomaly
in the room, it will map that.

So, it will map a person.

It should not map a doll.

It did map the doll.

When I was taking the aura photo of Robert,

the gentleman standing behind
me was looking at the aura

as it was coming up on the computer screen.

And I was saying that Robert's
looking very handsome.

And he just popped up and
said, "Yeah, for an ugly..."

I knew something bad has just happened.

I was in trouble.

I personally took blame.

If I had not broached the idea
of taking the photograph,

we wouldn't have been there.

And that's why I suffered the consequences.

And things got really bad after that.

This eight-year journey has
gone from car accidents,

financial issues,
broken back, broken shoulder,

loss of my business,
and the sinking of my houseboat.

Having been through everything
that I have with Robert,

I can't imagine what the
Otto family went through.

I don't understand if Robert had been

mistreated years and years ago
and this has carried forward.

It's a mystery.

There are some crazy stories about

how the doll came to the house.

But we found that the true origins

are in Germany and that Robert
was made by the Steiff Company.

They had invented the teddy bear in 1902.

So, that really brought them
a lot of acclaim.

They would have made Robert
probably right around 1904.

They made him in several sizes,

but his size is extremely rare.

He was probably made in
the image of an actual human

and used in a department store

as a display to help sell the Steiff dolls.

And we believe that his mother

and his father were visiting family

and they picked up the doll

and brought him back to Key West

and things were never again the same.

Right after the doll is in the house,

little Robert loses all interest

in every other toy he has,

in everything else practically
and just focuses on this doll.

It becomes his life.

Emeline?

Emeline?

Yes, Miss Otto.

What happened here?

I do not know, Miss Otto, but I'll be
more than happy to clean it up for you.

I can clean it.

I would just like to know why my
vase is broken in pieces on the floor.

This is the second one this week.

I did not break it.

But let me help you.

Be careful.

Yes, ma'am.

Robert.

Gene, honey, you scared us.

I just wanted to bring you this.

What is that?

Did you break this?

What were you doing in the study?

It wasn't me.

I didn't break anything,
and I didn't go into the study.

Then who was it?

Your sister?

No.

Gene, who was it?

I'm telling the truth, I didn't do it.

You have to believe me.

I will not tolerate lies, Gene.

Go to your room.

Robert did it.

Son says those fateful words

that we hear to this day,

"Robert did it."

What do you do?

This unnerved Minnie immensely.

She was never quite the same around Robert.

And Robert noticed.

Robert always notices.

You were right, Robert.

She did come.

It is hours past your bedtime.

What are you still doing awake?

It wasn't my fault, Mother.

Robert couldn't sleep.

I am so tired of hearing about Robert.

He's just a doll.

He doesn't get tired.

He doesn't need sleep.

He isn't real.

Mother, no!

He's my best friend!

Robert!

Now, until you can understand
that Robert is just a doll,

he is going to remain locked in there.

You can't blame him
for any more of your misdeeds.

To bed. Now!

As disturbed as Minnie
was by Robert the Doll,

one of their servants was about

to get the scare of his life.

You all right, George?

Thanks.

Mm-hmm.

Emeline?

This doll is getting attention,

it's getting energy,

it's getting focus from thousands

and then tens of thousands of people

from all over the world who are going there

because not only do they want to
see it, they want to experience it.

Pretty soon, the museum
starts to receive letters,

thousands of letters from people

who are writing to apologize to Robert

because something went wrong in their lives

and they traced it back to
disrespecting him in some way.

Robert receives a lot of letters

from all over the place.

He gets letters, he gets emails,

he gets social media messages.

I mean, it's fascinating

what experiences people have with Robert.

My name is Becky Vickers.

You know, I never really
believed in curses, but I do now.

100% I do now.

Would you like to read Robert, the letter?

I can.

It's scary just to think about
where I was...

where my headspace was
when I was writing this letter.

"So, many things have happened
since I visited you, Robert,

and it can't just be a case of bad luck.

I know it's you.

Ever since I returned home,

nothing but one bad thing after
another has happened to me.

And I'm afraid of what you will do next.

I must apologize for not believing

that you could curse someone

if they touched you or took pictures
of you without your permission first.

I am so, so sorry.

I will never doubt the kind of power

and infliction of fear
you can curse someone with.

I am a believer."

I am.

I knew all the rules.

I knew that you weren't supposed to take

Robert's photograph
without asking permission.

And I knew you weren't
supposed to touch the glass.

But I think the curiosity side
of me got the better of me.

I did touch the glass,

and I did take some photos without asking.

I don't know.

You just don't think things
are really going to happen.

But they do.

We started having truly unexplained things

happening in our home.

I could feel a presence.

I could feel the energy of
someone else in the house with me.

I've never had any feelings in my home,

spirits or shadow people.

But something was with me.

Something dark.

It was something there to hurt me.

The very first thing that went
through my mind was,

"Am I seeing Gene Otto?

Am I seeing Gene
that used to own the doll?"

In 1904, it would
not be so strange for a boy

to be playing with a doll.

On an island like Key West,

most of the entertainment involved games.

Kids would play outside.

They'd run all over the island.

They'd pick fruit from trees, you know?

They'd just get up to their good mischief.

A doll like this would
have been very special.

People would have come to see it

and said, "Wow, that's something
incredible that you have."

But they never would have
judged a child and said,

"Oh, look at you
playing with a doll."

But Robert is not just a doll.

My name is Cindy Kaza,
and I'm a psychic medium.

I'm here in Key West to hopefully

solve the mystery behind Robert the Doll.

When I go into an investigation

as a psychic medium,

my intention is to communicate

with the spirits at the location.

But I also pick up on
psychic imprints left behind.

Every location has its own memory,

and I can sense what other
people also experience at a location.

Hey.

- Welcome to the Artist's House.
- Hey.

- I'm David Sloan.
- Nice to meet you, David.

Yeah, nice to have you here.

The house is known
for the Ottos who built it.

It was built around the turn
of the century, right in 1900.

Right.

But it was also the home
of Robert the Doll.

- Right.
- As we know.

- And...
- The energy is palpable in this house.

I mean, you could feel the shift the second

I walked through the threshold.

Let's start right here.

This was Eugene Otto's art studio.

Immediately, I'm smelling
cigarette smoke like so strong.

So I know that that is something

that people would experience here.

I've seen pictures of Gene's studio,

where there's ashtrays there.

I can smell it.

There are a lot of spirits here.

I feel like guests are woken
up by a woman, a female.

She doesn't feel dark or negative,

but she has a story.

She has unfinished business.

There's also a little girl
that runs through here.

I can see her running down the halls
and running up and down the stairs.

I hear her laughing,

but she cries too because
I sense that part of it.

There's a lot of pain in this house.

There's a lot of guilt, remorse, shame.

This makes complete sense.

One of the stories that plays predominantly

in the story of Robert
the Doll, involves a nanny.

And it's a big one.

That's a big piece of the story.

I can feel her because she
has unfinished business,

like a lot of unfinished business.

So, I want to take you to the parlor room.

Well, the second that I walk in here,

I'm hearing like babies crying

like I'm hearing this baby crying,
crying, crying, crying so loud.

I feel this woman's anger about like

this should not have happened this way.

It wasn't meant to be this way.

It shouldn't have gone down this way.

And it feels like there's a cover up

or something was hidden
or they told a different story

than what actually happened.

Emeline had been the nanny here.

She lost a child.

I believe the child died in this room

and that Robert the Doll was in this room.

Okay.

I think that this doll
was already in the house

when the child died.

Maybe there was some sort
of spell put on this doll.

I want to take you to the room

where most of Robert's story took place.

It's called the turret suite.

- Okay.
- Come this way.

I can smell perfume in this room.

Like it's... Wow.

It's.

It's so strong that it's everywhere.

I keep seeing depression.

I see I'm in the throes
of deep, deep, deep grief.

This woman.

"They took my Bobby
from me."

And I don't understand what that means.

I don't understand that.
"They took my Bobby from me.

They took my Bobby from me."

Let me ask you this.

Could it be a Bahamian accent saying, baby?

- They took my baby from me?
- Oh, interesting.

Is that how it would have come out?

- They took my Bobby.
- They took my Bobby from me.

That's exactly how I'm hearing it.

And I'm thinking it's like Bobby...

Like Bobby, like Robert.

- But that...
- But it's not.

That doesn't fit as well
as the pronunciation of Bobby.

Baby.

Oh, my God!

There's a darker legend,

where a servant was so angry at the family

after her child had tragically died

that she put a voodoo curse on this doll.

There is a rumor that she
had an affair with Thomas Otto.

It is rumored that they had a child

and she gave birth to a little girl

who happened to have passed away.

She practiced Santeria and voodoo,

and she left a curse inside the doll.

And I believe this child that passed away

attached itself to Robert the Doll.

Farfetched as it sounds,
it's one of the rumors here.

Losing a child is devastating,

and there's really no grief that
can match a mother losing a child.

I don't feel like there's a
spirit inside Robert the Doll.

I feel like there's a spirit
attached to the doll.

And the sense is this is, if you...

if I can't have my family,
you can't have yours.

Or if you're gonna take my family,

I'm going to take yours.

So, I can really understand
why this legend persists.

And I actually don't think it's a legend.

It's real.

I really think that the house
is more like a portal.

I think that it's an entry point.

I think there are tons of spirits there

and it's no wonder

why so many people have had so
many experiences at this location.

This place is haunted for sure.

Would everybody like some tea?

Robert?

Okay.

Here you are, Robert.

Enjoy.

How about you, Teddy?

We can't have a tea party without you.

Now, how did you get
all the way over there?

Let's stay in our seats this
time so we can have our tea.

Joe, if you don't mind, let's
put a microphone on her.

My name is Rachel.

After visiting Robert, it has
completely shaken my life.

Honestly, nervous.

Knowing the things that have happened to me

and the things that have happened here,

Robert is a force to be reckoned with.

Four years ago, we were in
Key West on our honeymoon.

We had just gotten married
a few days prior.

We decided to try one of the ghost tours

that they had at the fort.

After that night,

it completely changed
the direction of my life.

They told everyone that was on the tour

that we had to show respect for Robert,

to ask for his permission.

Everything that you do
has to be out of respect.

And everyone took it seriously
except for my husband.

And the moment my husband
disrespected Robert

was the moment everything went downhill.

Weeks after, we started noticing

little things happening in our house.

The taps started as little tiny knocks

just on the wall or on the floors.

And as the weeks passed and days passed,

we could hear the taps getting closer.

It went from one end to the entryway,

to the hallway, and then once
it reached the hallway,

the taps turned into more of a footstep.

The final breaking point was, one night,

when I got off of work,
when I walked into the house,

every cabinet in our kitchen was open

and everything out of the
cabinet was stacked on the floor.

Talking about it now, it
honestly makes me want to cry,

because it was the scariest moment

that I have ever had in my life.

It makes me wonder what happened
to make Robert what he is today.

Children grow up.

It's what they do.

And when you grow up,
you pack away your dolls.

Gene and Robert were so close growing up.

But then the time came
when he was a young man

and he had to go off and see the world.

And he left Robert behind.

He put Robert into a chest
and stored him away in the attic.

And Gene went off to see the world.

He went to school first as an architect,

but he always wanted to be an artist.

So then he went to art school
for a little while.

And then he went to Paris.

And Paris in the 1920s,
this was an incredible time.

Hemingway was there.

You had all of the artists,
all the writers.

It was quite the scene.

And he studied under some
of the best artists.

When he's in Paris,

Gene Otto meets his future wife Ann Parker,

who's a brilliant pianist
and an accomplished musician,

comes from a wealthy family,

and she's head over heels
in love with Gene.

And eventually the two get married.

Gene and Anne are married
on May 3rd, 1930, in Paris.

Gene sets out to become the artist

he's always dreamt himself to be.

But Gene and his lovely wife
moved to New York in the 1930s

and the Otto family money has dried
up thanks to the Great Depression.

But by the 1940s,

Anne, is the one who was
the breadwinner of the family,

her music career has taken off.

She's even performed at
the legendary Rainbow Room,

which is every artist's dream at this time.

So by 1945, Gene's struggling as an artist.

His wife is doing well as a musician,

but then they get a phone call.

Gene's mother Minnie is not
doing well down in Key West.

Anne and Gene were here in the Otto home,

when Minnie died on September 14, 1945,

and the house was left to the Otto children

and then given to Gene and Anne.

And the decision was made
that they would start

the new life here and move
in to Gene's childhood home.

Anne knew about
her husband's eccentricities.

He was an artist, but she was not prepared

for what was about to happen

when they moved back to Key West.

Gene, I found this in the storage closet.

My old friend.

Gene?

Gene?

I take it you want to keep this thing?

Yes.

And he's not a thing, Anne, I want
to introduce you to my oldest friend.

This...
this is Robert.

Almost instantly, Gene started talking

to the doll almost as if
the doll was alive.

I'm sure Anne thought that,

"What did I get myself into?"

I think, it made her sick to her stomach

and creeped her out.

But then things took another turn.

I told you I'm sorry,
but we're back together now.

We can make up for lost time.

See, it's just like old times.

You sit here in the morning,

you get to see a beautiful sunrise.

See, I do remember.

You don't have to worry about my wife.

We can handle her.

You will always be my best friend.

Anne.

To this day,

thousands of people come to visit Robert

and they write letters
begging for this curse

to be lifted because
they didn't follow the rules.

"Dear Robert, I was a recent
visitor to the museum,

and our guide led us to the
room where you're located.

He told us about the rules to follow.

I told you my name,

asked permission to take
a photo and thanked you.

I thought I followed the rules.

But last night as I slept, Robert,

you came to me
in a nightmare."

What the hell?

Oh, my goodness.

I decided you might have done this to me,

Robert, so I looked
at the rules on the Internet.

Everything I read made me
believe I followed your rules.

And then I noticed another tab.

A tab I never opened.

And when I clicked on it, I saw a rule,

I didn't see before.

I didn't know
I was supposed to say goodbye.

I didn't know that was a rule, Robert.

Nobody told me.

Forgive me.

Anne had given up
the limelight up in New York.

She had, you know,
given up the Rainbow Room.

She was a headliner.

And now here in Key West,
Gene was the story.

Gene was the artist.

He was the architect extraordinaire.

He's starting to get some
acclaim, and he's loving it.

He's eating up every minute of it.

And so, imagine that your musical career

is more or less finished,

and now you're stuck in this house

with your husband and this doll.

Gene would place Robert
in the window of the turret,

and you could see him from
the street when you walk by.

Right below the window
is the street out front

and you have school children
that are passing by that

will cross the street
to avoid the Otto house.

It did feel like he was glaring at you.

I was one of those schoolchildren.

You always felt you were being watched.

No matter where you were, what
direction of the house you were,

he was always watching you,
glaring down at you,

making you real uncomfortable being there.

It wasn't like Gene was ducking
down below him and moving him around.

They would see Gene sitting there

painting in the other window
while Robert moved on his own

between the other windows.

At some point, they
start avoiding this street,

because they're afraid of something

that's going on inside that house...

something sinister,
something that's cursed.

And this is my favorite piece
that I've completed so far.

Where do you get your ideas?

It's about observation.

I try to bring life
into that which intrigues me.

I must admit, I'm a little envious.

You must be so proud.

I said, you must be so proud.

What?

I apologize.

Yes, I am.

Who might that be?

It's just our cat.

We don't have any cats.

Maybe it's time to go.

We'll come by another time.

It's nothing.

- It's nothing really.
- Come on, sweetie.

Thank you.

Have a good night.

You as well.

Really, Anne?

Anne, don't.

Anne, don't you dare.

And that was the last straw.

She had to get Robert the Doll
out of her life for good.

But despite their agreement to
keep Robert locked in the attic,

the newfound peace in
their house did not last long.

I won't be afraid.

I'm not afraid.

Gene, Gene!

Open up, please!

Open the door!

Gene!

Gene!

Let me out!

Next morning, Gene wakes up,

his wife's not in bed with him.

What happened?

So he starts looking around the house.

- Anne.
- Get away from me.

What are you doing down there?

What the hell is wrong with you?

I was up all night screaming.

Anne, I'm sorry.

No, don't touch me.

Why did you do it?

Why did you lock me in there?

Why did you do it?

It wasn't me.

Robert did it.

As much as the people in Key West

might have seen Anne and Gene
as a happy couple out in public

behind closed doors,
it was a very different story.

Anne and Gene's relationship
was so stressed

and so fractured during that time

because of Robert's relationship with Gene.

And Anne moved into her own room,

which happens to be this room
that we're in today.

Around 1965, Gene became sick
with Parkinson's disease,

and I spoke to some of his family.

They said he spent his last ten
years in the turret with Robert the Doll,

slowly losing his mind.

It pains me to think about
the way she had to suffer,

and the ending is even worse.

Gene died on June 24th,
1974, and when he died,

Anne was devastated.

Anne now lives in the house alone.

But it never felt right, just
her and Robert in that house.

And so, when money gets tight,

she decides to sell the house
to her neighbor, William Gaiser.

But she makes one thing clear when she
sells the home, that Robert comes with it.

I don't think Anne was honoring her
husband by having Robert stay here.

I think she wanted to make sure

that it didn't end up being sent to her.

And she died from pancreatic
cancer five years later.

It was a tragic ending
for everybody involved,

except for Robert the Doll.

Myrtle Reuter and Bill Reuter bought
the Otto family home from Bill Gaiser.

It was right around 1976.

Oh, my God.
I remember this.

The unpacking is fun.

Let's see what we've got here.

- Hi, honey.
- Hi, Mom.

- Hey, Sarah.
- Having fun?

Yes.

Have you picked out your room?

Dad, sincerely.

- I love this house.
- Nice.

- It is cool, isn't it?
- Big.

Look at you.

Aw!

Unbelievable.

How did you get in here?

Are you all alone in here?

That isn't nice.

Don't worry.

I'll take care of you.

Of course we can be friends.

Some legends say it seems
Robert was waiting for a new friend.

There is again this wonderful
connection at start,

but again, the honeymoon
does not last long with Robert.

So this is your favorite seat?

Mine too.

I bet my other friends will like it.

What do you think?

I think they like it too.

How did you get back here?

I think it's time to go to bed.

By coming to Key West,
I'm hoping to understand

why Robert the Doll
has had such a massive impact

and a negative impact on so many people.

Hi, Robert.

My name is Cindy,

and I'm here to talk to you about

why you're here and to learn
about the story of Robert.

The energy is palpable.

I mean, you could feel the shift

the second I walk through the threshold.

I'm already hearing there
really aren't many entities

attached to Robert the Doll.

So fascinating because it's...

it really...
he's not just one spirit.

He's many spirits.

It's almost as if the doll
itself is a portal.

Whatever spell, for lack
of a better word, was done.

It was to create an opening
inside the doll to attract in spirits.

In this particular case,

I think it's really hard
to close the portal

that surrounds Robert the Doll

because we don't truly understand

how this portal was created.

Do you feel like all of these spirits

were always with Robert or do you think

they've been collected along the way?

They've definitely
been collected along the way.

So it's like wherever Robert goes,

more spirits attach to Robert

and they just accumulate and accumulate.

And I know that people
have seen Robert move.

But again, it's also the spirits

that are around Robert that are
able to manipulate the doll itself.

Wherever this doll is, there
are lots of spirits coming in,

lots of them, and especially children.

I keep seeing handprints on the glass,

little children's handprints.

The little girl, I feel,
really is a strong presence

around this doll and her
story hasn't been told yet.

Why do you think the spirits around Robert

are angry or sad or...

They have unfinished business.

Their story hasn't been told.

I mean, this is...

this doll is a portal to
attract in a lot of spirits,

and in particular, spirits of
unfinished business that are sad,

that are angry because that
creates a darker presence.

Not all of them are bad.

Some of them are mischievous, but
there is, in particular, one who is negative.

I definitely feel like
there is an aggressive

male spirit that's very attached

to this doll that I feel is dark

who is the one that shoves
people, who scares people.

Open up! Please!

There's definitely
a very angry, aggressive,

and violent spirit
attached to Robert the Doll.

And I do believe that he is the cause

of a lot of the negative activity

that people have experienced.

I don't know what to do.

She was fine before we moved here.

Why would she be acting like this now?

- Sarah.
- No.

- Sarah.
- Hurry.

Mom. Help me.

Help me. Mom!

Help me!

Give me that.

Are you okay?

Are you okay?

The doll's fighting with me.

A fake fight with your doll?

What the hell is going on around here?

This nonsense...

this nonsense, Sarah, it ends now.

It ends now!

Are you okay?

I don't know.

Part of the legend says that
the father locked the doll away

after it had tried to attack his daughter.

And shortly after he did that,
he was found dead.

William, are you out there?

What on earth are you doing out there?

William.

William!

William, open the door!

William, open the door!

William!

No, no.

William, no.

Wake up, honey.
Wake up.

Wake up, honey.
Wake up.

Wake up.
Wake up.

Wake up!

The legend surrounding

William and Robert says
that he had passed away

from carbon monoxide poisoning.

Was it a tragic accident

or was this the curse of
Robert claiming another victim?

If you ask a local like me,

I'm gonna tell you, that's Robert.

And he will get his revenge.

And he got it.

So now Myrtle is a widow.

Two years later, decides to sell the house.

She can't afford to keep it,
but as she moves away,

she decides, strangely, to keep the doll.

Robert.

So this is where he put you.

Oh, you poor darling.

You must've been in so lonely.

Oh, Robert.

Oh.

It's okay.

I'm here now.

You're gonna come with me now.

We're gonna have so much fun.

The legend around Robert
and Myrtle continued for years.

One such legend included Myrtle

getting ready for bed
in her Key West apartment.

How's my darling doing?

No. Where have you gone?

I know I put you in your chair.

Let me out!

Myrtle Reuter, she had Robert
up until August 19th, 1994,

and that's the morning
after she was attacked.

Whoever is out there, stop this now.

That was the last straw.

She had to get Robert the Doll
out of her life for good.

And after that, she donates Robert

to the Fort East Martello Museum.

I think she brought him there

because this was the main
museum in Key West.

It was rich with Key West history,

and it was also the museum

that Gene Otto had helped create.

When this was turned over from the military

to the Key West Art & Historical Society,

Gene was very active
in making the galleries.

And I talked with Joe,
who checked Robert in.

He said Myrtle came through
that front door,

and she was frantic.

She was clutching the doll.

She set him down on the desk and she said,

"This is Robert the Doll.

He belonged to Gene Otto, and he's haunted.

I need you to take him."

They filled out the paperwork.

Myrtle left the fort,
and she died 101 days later.

The museum director gets this doll

and doesn't know what to do with it.

He's so unnerved by her story.

So he puts it away.

He locks it away from public view.

It's just part of the collection.

When we first took possession
of Robert in 1994, we...

you know, it was like a lot
of things in our collection.

People have dropped things off at the door.

People have...

you know, some of it's
quality, some of it's not.

And so Robert kind of fell into that,

and he went into a storage room

with a lot of other things.

They're not quite sure
what to do with him yet,

so they just kind of lock him
up and keep him in a closet.

But this is the perfect place
for him because, number one,

they used to display Gene
Otto's art in this museum.

I mean, so there's that connection.

And now you've brought in arguably

the world's most haunted doll with a place

that's also connected
to the doll's first owner.

There were plumbing troubles at the fort

after Robert had arrived.

So they called in a specialist
who comes in.

The plumber comes in and
starts working on the pipes.

Frickin' rats.

He flips out. Done.

I'm out. You know, I'm not...

Get me the hell out of here.

He says had anyone told him that
there was a ghost doll in this building,

he never would have come.

Unfortunately, these attacks
were just the beginning.

As the story of Robert the Doll

starts to circulate around the museum

and as people are becoming
more interested in it,

employees are starting to notice
strange things are happening

and the reputation
starts to spread quickly.

Well, you know, there's a
ghost story that's going well.

- What?
- Sorry.

But I just, I don't really
believe in that stuff.

It's all just a bunch
of made-up island tales.

What was that?

I didn't see anything.

Something just went down the hallway.

It's probably just a mouse.

It looked hell of a lot bigger
than a mouse.

All right.
I'm gonna go check it out.

I'll be right back.

Okay.

You picked the wrong day
to sneak in here, rat.

You see that little case there?

That's Robert.

The world's most haunted doll.

He's received thousands
and thousands of letters

from people asking
for his curse to be removed.

Who here believes in curses?

Robert is just like
visiting the lion at the zoo.

You don't go in the cage.

And one of my goals tonight
is we take precautions

so you can get out of here without
suffering the wrath of Robert the Doll.

Once, Myrtle brings Robert to us in 1994

and he got put out on display,

he goes from being recognized
and known probably

by handfuls of people
that are here on Key West to,

within a few years, having
an incredible reputation

and acknowledgment
from all over the country.

I can't imagine that Myrtle
would have thought

that that would have been possible.

Shortly after Robert went on display,

visitors started experiencing
problems with their cameras.

Batteries of all types were
draining around Robert the Doll.

This led to the legend that
you better ask his permission.

Weird things continue
to happen to Robert the Doll,

in and around that display.

Objects moved, the doll moves.

People swear they see
the doll move on its own.

There was a chair kept beside
Robert the Doll's case.

They'd come in in the morning
and find the chair

facing Robert, as if somebody was sitting

and having a conversation with him.

They'd hear Robert whisper their name

as they walked by him in the morning.

One staff member noticed
that Robert's feet were dirty.

And then she looked down.

And in front of his case,

she saw little Robert's-sized footprints

in the dust of the fort.

The reputation of Robert the Doll

is that it's haunted, it's possessed,

that there's something inside of it.

What happens if you go there

and you take a picture
and you didn't ask permission

and you go home and some
horrible thing happens to you?

Suddenly, the legends
have a lot more truth to them.

It's not just a ghost story anymore.

It's your reality.

Feels a lot different this time.

Got to be honest with you,
than it did 13 years ago.

Key West is one of
my favorite places to go.

I live about four hours away.

I used to drive here all the time,

and I have not been back here for 13 years.

You come to this place, and,
you know, we did a ghost tour,

and that was fun, and everything was fun,

and just, you know, we had
a few drinks, that was fun.

And then the next day, we
come here, and this was fun.

But as soon as you turn the corner

and you see basically this little kid's toy

that's all beat up and looks like hell.

I mean, honestly, and, you
know, the Robert the Doll legend.

But I'm also pretty sarcastic.

And when somebody says, "Don't do this,"

I just thought, "Well, I'm gonna do this

and I'm going to turn it up a notch

and just going to just be a jackass

and mess around with
the little stupid kid's toy."

I saw this plexiglass,
you know, little cage.

And I thought, "Oh, boy,
this is pretty ridiculous."

And everyone's freaked out.

And I remember looking at the wall

and there are all these letters pasted.

And I just remember, like,
you know, looking at my wife,

just going, "Wow, people are weird.

Like, they really
buy into this."

And so I just started being a jerk.

The first rule is don't mock him.

Did it?

If you're gonna take a
picture, ask his permission.

Didn't do that.

So without a doubt,

everything that I did while I was here

was 100% wrong in my opinion.

After we left the museum,
within 20 minutes,

bad luck started happening.

At first, it was just minor car stuff,

and then it turned into
families being in accidents,

my dog dying, my mom getting sick,

my mom dying, me losing a job,

me losing a huge contract, me getting sick.

I mean, it just went on and on and on.

More pets dying,
me getting sicker to the point

where me almost dying one day.

So I thought, "Well,
what do I have to lose?"

I'm gonna write him a letter.

And that's what I did.

And after that, like really, within days,

it seemed everything changed.

I guarantee people are going
to look at me and think,

"Look at this idiot."

But this idiot was basically
like you idiots that don't believe.

Like I truly, truly believe this right now.

I was a jerk.
I did everything wrong.

I did everything that the
legend says I shouldn't do.

I did.

And I ended up paying the price for it.

There are thousands of people begging

for forgiveness from Robert the Doll

to this day because they
believe they're cursed.

It really doesn't matter if you believe

this is for real or not for real.

It's a reality for thousands of people

who have fallen under the spell of Robert.

And while you can say there's no such thing

as curses, this is superstition,

there's no such thing as
a haunted doll, that's fine.

But tell that to them.

Tell that to the people,
the thousands of people

who have written letters about
all the bad luck that's befallen them

after they went there
and didn't take it seriously.

As your parents probably told you,

if you don't have anything nice
to say, don't say anything at all.

It's very important
when it comes to Robert.

If you don't have anything
nice to say, don't say it to him.

Don't even say it out loud
and don't even think it

in the same room 'cause he's going to know.

I went through some really rough times

when I was writing the book
about Robert the Doll.

I used to think
I was Mr. Ghost Guy

and that I knew
more about them than anybody,

but I was put firmly in my place.

It started with losing four hard drives,

and after the first one, of course,

I have everything backed up
every way you could imagine.

The entire versions
of the book were disappearing,

and it was as if somebody
didn't like something

I was putting in the book
and I couldn't figure out why.

I was shedding light on Robert.

I thought he would be appreciative.

What became terrifying,
you know, losing hard drives,

it's not scary,
it's frustrating, it's weird.

What became terrifying
was a few days after this,

I was yanked from my bed.

And when I realized nothing
was below me, I became terrified.

And that's when I said,
"Oh, God, help me."

And when I said that, boom, I dropped.

I wasn't even over my bed.

I was about six feet to the left of it.

And I don't know how high up
I dropped from, but I hit hard.

And after the encounter with Robert,

that woke me up,

and it put a seriousness
on the spirit world.

I don't expect anybody to understand

that until they've been
through it themselves.

And the best I can do is try
to warn them until then.

Overall, honestly,
Robert the Doll is not evil.

- Right.
- -I don't feel Robert the Doll is evil.

I feel there's a portal,
there's an entry point,

and it's the person's intentions

coming towards the doll
that create the outcome.

How you approach Robert the Doll

will determine your experience
with the doll.

Do you know why Robert
is haunting the people

who break the rules to this day?

Because they deserve it.

That's just literally what I heard,

because they deserve it.

And I just heard I curse people

who don't believe
that I'm true, that I'm real.

That's the thing.

People that come in
and say this is just a joke,

this is all fake, they're the
ones who get hit the hardest.

I don't feel like Robert the
Doll is out to hurt people.

But if you don't respect,

then you have something coming for you?

Yeah.

In this particular case,

I think it's really hard
to close the portal

that surrounds Robert the Doll.

What we need to do,
and what people need to do,

is acknowledge all of the
spirits connected to Robert.

It's not just one.

They all need to be acknowledged.

It's powerful.

Yeah, some really powerful
spell work was done,

and I do not see it being reversed.

I think people just need to
be respectful and live with it.

It's not going away.

I mean, I certainly would not
want to disrespect the spirits

connected to this doll.

I think that people that are being haunted

by the curse of Robert the Doll

need to apologize to the spirits

for something that they
probably did to disrespect them.

Being here today, I truly believe that

if you disrespect the spirit

attached to Robert the Doll,
you will feel its wrath.

A legend is a living, breathing thing.

It's a thing that becomes
bigger than the object itself.

And as you approach this,
this case where Robert sits,

you can't help but think of
all the stories you've heard.

Each one of those stories
gives Robert more power

and it makes his legend grow,
makes it bigger and bigger.

When a company makes
a one-off display doll,

it's not like someone's gonna think to save

all the records of that, right?

It's a throwaway.

It's something you put up
on display somewhere

and then you forget about it.

How could you know that 100 years from now,

this thing that you made
would become something

so prominent that people
come from all over the world

to see it and test the legend?

To this day, thousands of
people come to visit him every day.

Robert is enormously popular.

Over the past ten years that
I've been with this institution

and working with Robert,

we've seen his popularity
grow exponentially.

When people say the most
haunted doll in the world,

that's a pretty big claim.

With Robert the Doll,

people experience things
every single day of the year.

That's what makes
the world's most haunted doll.

Is Robert possessed
by the spirit of a child

born of this illicit affair
between Thomas and Emeline?

And could this child's tragic death

be the source of the curse of the energy

that possesses Robert the Doll?

That's the legend.

We have all put our fears
and our energy into this thing.

Anyone who believes it,
and even who disbelieves it,

we have created Robert the Doll.

We make monsters,
and then we can't control them

when they get out into the world.

Who knows what's next?

He looks creepy.

I don't know.

You don't think he's creepy looking?

Look at the face?

I think he's just misunderstood.

Maybe.

Come on.

Jill.

Jill, come on.

Hey, I was talking to you.

Let's go.

Okay.

Bye, Robert.